My friend has an Artic Fox he's had a couple of years. After the first year he noticed some delamination on the overhead front cap. After pulling it out of a barn for the year he noticed some major delamination on this part. When he had noticed the minor delamination he caulked the seems properly with eternabond or whatever that RV caulking is called. Obviuosly that didn't help. What is suggested he do? He's thought of removing all the trim pieces and peeling it off carefully with the intention of fixing it himself but is afraid to open up a can of worms. What kind of costs would he be looking at to get it repaired. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Here is a link to a pic.

Have him call Northwood Mgf. in LaGrange OR. at 1-800-766-6274. and talk to Matt. They can provide that info to include parts if he wants to do it himself. If you want feedback on this site provide type of unit. Someone may have some info.

Wow. That's nasty looking. I think he's already got a can of worms, and the longer he waits before opening it up, the more worms he's going to have. If it's water that caused that, just sealing up the leak isn't going to stop the progression of the underlying damage.

The filon has separated from the cardboard backing. Odds are there is a leak at the top seam where it joins the roof or along the side. That looks like a 21-5R.

It all depends on what he wants to do. Obviously the source of the leak needs to be fixed. What is unknown is if the water damaged any of the wood framing. You can only know is by removing the front cap and looking. Also, since water has going into the front, odds are it also drained down under the bed. Ask him if the filon under the bed area is delaminated.

After that, he will need to replace that front cap. It's not terribly hard. The tricky part is the top curve. The factory used scored cardboard because it would bent over the curve. Luan won't without breaking even if scored.

Thanks. I agree that it is pretty substantial. Yes it is delaminated under the bed/above the hitch. I'm thinking he's in for an expensive repair. I personally wouldn't tackle it. I'd try an find a dealership or repair shop that's not out to rape anyone if that's at all possible.

Yeah, and his Artic Fox is pretty far away from trashed. The inside shows zero damage believe it or not. The more I read about delamination the more glad I am I have aluminum siding. I know it can have it's problems, but around here I see 20-40 year old aluminum sided rigs in great condition all the time.

Wow thats rough. My guess is the screw holes in the upper portion are leaking.

In 07 we purchased a new Fox TC. In spring of 08 delamination was showing on the back. Spent most of the summer at the dealer getting a lot of talk and cosmetic fixes that were worthless. Winter 08-09 ripped out the rear of the TC, added new framing and replaced the filon with aluminum siding. The job cost me $900 and about 50 hours.

We put on about 3000mi on the TC in 09 and the fix held up well. Sold the unit March of this year and replaced it with a Jayco 5er with aluminum siding.

IMHO, the best way to ensure that the job is done properly and not get raped in the process is to (a) call Matt at Northwood, and (b) make an appointment with him to have them do the repair. My experience with Northwood service is that it is very good and very reasonably priced. They'll know exactly what to do and won't waste time and money wondering and making mistakes.

Your friend wanted to take a vacation run up to LaGrande, OR didn't he?